Un.con.nect.ed: How to Engage the Unchurched, Disconnected, and Spiritually Indifferent

The mainline Protestant church in North America is dying. We hear it every day. We discuss it at every clergy judicatory meeting. We read about it in our journals, in blogs, and in the news. We talk about it at our lunches with fellow ministers. We fret about it with our lay leaders. With a handful of mega-church exceptions, once vibrant and thriving churches are near empty on Sunday morning, or seeing dwindling numbers. No longer is church attendance expected, or even desirable, to an increasingly large segment of the population. No longer is there a sense of religious obligation, not just in our young people, but even in our aging population. While some older Americans may feel a tug to attend church on high holidays such as Easter and Christmas, increasing numbers of people feel no such pull to any religious practice, irrespective of holidays and traditions. While a "new reformation" was and is needed in the institutional church, I also believe that it is possible to speak to the 82.2% who have essentially left the church. I believe that a revival of institutional religion is not only needed, but necessary, lest North American follow in the steps of Europe and become an essentially secular state. And I absolutely believe that this is, in fact, the greatest and most promising mission field in the last 100 years. A whopping 32% of Americans who are unaffiliated with a church are young adults. This is a generation we cannot afford to lose. Until we understand the mind and desires of those who stand outside the walls of our churches, and also fully embrace the richness of scripture and polyvalent nature of our canon, we will continue to struggle to engage un-connected, un-churched, and de-churched people. The mainline church must reenergize and equip preachers to answer the "So what?" questions that the unconnected are asking. We are clearly in a time of crisis. We are on the cusp of a paradigm shift, and the shift is happening irrespective of whether or not the institution of the church in on board. What questions are they asking about life and about God? What techniques can we use to speak effectively to the listener? How do we create spaces for worship that are inviting? How do we engage the unconnected in mission? How do we build relationships? Here is the exciting part: Millennials, Gen X'ers, and even younger Boomers are open to faith. They just are not actively seeking a faith community. I find this not only encouraging, but invigorating. un.con.nect.ed offers practical advice on how to prepare our hearts, our minds, and our churches to make disciples of Jesus Christ for the transformation of the world. May God richly bless your ministry and your efforts to engage those who stand outside the walls of our churches.